


the sniffles

by wlwblackbat



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Gen, background stephcass, i couldn't help myself okay?, mentions of other batfam members, no beta reader we die like men, this is basically just cass & damian shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-16 06:14:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15430770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wlwblackbat/pseuds/wlwblackbat
Summary: Damian gets sick and Cass knows the perfect remedy for "the sniffles".





	the sniffles

**Author's Note:**

> this was originally for batfam week but it ended up not fitting any of the prompts so I never posted it until now. hope you enjoy!

 

Cass was stubborn. It took a lot to stop her from going out back on patrol, even with a sprained wrist, like her sick baby brother. 

Bruce had asked her to keep an eye on him and make sure he didn't sneak out and go on patrol by himself, and of course, how could she say no? 

Outside of patrol, Cass didn't have as many opportunities to spend one on one time with her brothers. She hadn't lived at the manor in nearly a year since she and Steph had gotten an apartment together. Cass had her own apartment before, but she always ended up going back to the manor or spending most of her time there anyway, but with Steph it was different. With Steph, she was home. They had built their own little life together outside of the rest of the bats. 

Cass was now sitting in the living room, in the rarely empty manor, with Damian sitting on the other side of the sofa, his arms crossed and a box of tissues in his lap. It didn't take an expert in body language to figure out he wasn't happy with staying home. He said he had just a minor cold, but Bruce being the overprotective father he is, didn't want Damian to suffer through it and get worse. Last time he insisted he was fine with a cold, he ended up passing out on patrol and getting a high fever. 

"We don't have to sit here in silence." 

No answer. 

Damian was stubborn, but Cass was too, and she had her ways.

"You know... Bruce didn't say we had to stay at the manor, just no patrol." 

Damian turned to look at his sister with a confused face but then they both shared a mischievous grin. 

 

 

* * *

 

 

"Ugh, Cassandra, stop fretting over me like you're my mother." Damian's voice was croaky, you could hear the pain in his voice from his sore throat every time he spoke. 

"I'm not fretting like your mother, I'm fretting like your big sister. Now stop pouting and put this sweater on, I don't want you to get anymore sick."

Damian reluctantly put on the sweater. It was dark blue and much too big on him. Cass said it was hers, but he guessed she stole it from one of their siblings. She was also wearing a sweater that didn't fit. It was a muted yellow with old faded words you couldn't read anymore and was absolutely hideous, it most definitely belonged to Stephanie. 

"Where are we going anyway?" 

"A place." 

"Care to elaborate on that?"

"No." Cass answered, slipping her ratty old pair of shoes on. She stopped and glanced up at him, making a face. "Now stop asking questions." 

"Tt. I'll stop if I can drive." Damian smirked. 

"You're 13."

"So? Its not like you can drive."

"I actually _have_ a license." 

"That means nothing. No one trusts you behind the wheel anyway. Father probably paid off your instructor for you to pass." 

Cass rolled her eyes and grabbed him by the hand, dragging him out to the car. 

 

 

* * *

  

 

Cass drove them into the city. She drove through the nicest parts, with tall skyscrapers and barely any graffiti on the old stone walls. She drove past the nicer houses and apartments too. The tall ones with fresher paint and flower baskets that must've been fake, it was never sunny enough to keep those alive, but Damian couldn't tell in the dimly lit streets. 

They were nearly on the edge of the city, closer inland where most of the quaint little shops were, small cafes and local businesses too. The streets were practically empty, only a few stores still had their lights on.

It was nice. Better than nice. It was almost like something you saw in a crappy small town type movie. Patrols rarely lead them here, only small crimes occasionally happened. It was like criminals were more attracted to the uglier parts of Gotham. 

 _I guess even criminals can appreciate the beauty Gotham held_ , Damian thought.

Cass parked in front of an ice cream-no, frozen yogurt shop. 

"Cassandra, why are we here?" Damian asked, wiping his nose on his sleeve. 

"The best thing to cure the sniffles is frozen yogurt."

"'Sniffles'? What am I, seven?"

"That's what Steph calls them." She smiled. 

"Tt, of course she does." 

They got out of the car, Cass nearly dragging Damian in excitement. She sure did love her sweets. 

A small bell rang as the door opened. Only one women stood inside, a short blonde only slightly older than his sister. She was sweeping and it looked like she was ready to close up. She waved at Cass, almost like she knew her. The woman most likely did know her, Damian knew Cass loved frozen yogurt but he didn't realize she would visit a place so far out on the other side of the city for it.

"Jason and I come here a lot. Usually on our bad days." Cass said, practically knowing what he was thinking

"Whatcha getting?" She asked, grabbing a cup and going straight for the chocolate flavor. Her favorite.

Damian glazed over the many flavors, before seeing his usual flavor in ice cream. "Butterscotch." He hoped it wouldn't taste too different as frozen yogurt.

He nearly overfilled the container, thinking with his stomach and not his head. 

Cass shook her head at him before loading her own treat with many, many toppings. She chose whip cream, gummy worms (after all it was her favorite candy), chocolate chips, M&M's, and warm caramel sauce. 

Damian shook his head right back at her before only getting chocolate covered nuts and chocolate sauce. 

They put their yogurt on the small scale and the blonde woman working pressed a few buttons before speaking up.

"Your total is 11.79." 

Cass reached into her pocket to grab a crumpled twenty, she gave it to the woman working and smiled. 

"Keep the change, Lauren. Have a good night."

"Thank you, you too!" The woman,  _Lauren_ , called as they left. 

Together they sat in the car in front of the shop, eating their frozen yogurt in comfortable silence except for the radio playing '80s music Damian did not recognize. He watched out the window as lights shut off and people locked up their stores. He never had moments of peace like this. It was refreshing. Calming. Did Cassandra usually come late at night and sit here and watch as the city started to go to sleep?

"How'd you find this place?" Damian asked, his voice quiet, like he was afraid of disturbing the peace of the night.

"Babs took me here after I became Batgirl. It sort of became a tradition to come here, just us, but then.. things happened. We didn't have time anymore and then.. I wasn't Batgirl anymore." Her eyes were void of emotion. She missed her Batgirl days, but back then she didn't have as big a family like now. It was hard for her to distinguish all her different emotions on the subject. 

"What made you come back here? To the shop, I mean."

Cass shrugged. "I don't really know. Nostalgia, maybe? I guess it  was just an old habit I missed. I didn't really get back in routine of coming here until Jason and I became close, but that's kind of a long story." She looked over at Damian, smiling softly, just a hint of a bittersweet sadness. "We should go home, before Bruce gets back from patrol, plus our fro-yo is almost melted."

 Damian snorted. "Does anyone even say 'fro-yo' anymore?"

" _Pff_ , Jason says the same thing to me every time we come here. I do it just to annoy him."

Damian laughed, telling himself to remember that next time he saw Jason. Anything to annoy his siblings. 

Cass shoved the rest of her yogurt into her mouth and reached into the backseat. She pulled a plastic grocery bag from the garbage that covered the floor. 

"When you're done put your yogurt in here." She said with her mouth full as she put her own container in the bag.

"What do I do with the bag?" 

Cass buckled her seatbelt and made a throwing motion to the backseat. 

" _Slob_."

She gently slapped his arm. 

"Ow!" 

"That didn't hurt, you big baby." 

"Maybe it did." Damian crossed his arms, sniffling like he was upset.

Cass ignored him and started driving. "Scenic route or short route?" 

"Short. I rather not be stuck in this car with my mean older sister." 

"Just for that I'll take the long route." Just then lightning flashed across the sky and cue the rain. Cass smirked. "Or you can walk." 

"No!" Damian yelled at her. "I might get even more sick! What if I fall into a coma? Or-"

"Stop being dramatic." 

"I'm only dramatic from spending too much time with _you_."

Cass slapped his arm and Damian muttered something she didn't quite catch. He leaned back into his seat as his sister started to drive. He ate the last few spoonfuls of his now melted yogurt and stared out the window, watching the rain really start to come down.

 

 

* * *

 

 

The next thing Damian knew, he was being carried up the manor stairs. He had fallen asleep on the car ride home, and Cass was carrying him in her arms like a baby, which usually he did not appreciate unless it was his father, or Dick on even rarer occasions. 

He kept his eyes closed in case she noticed he was awake, although that wouldn't stop her from carrying him. She kicked open his bedroom door carefully, which evidently, by the sound of  _tap tap tap_ on the wood floors, Titus heard and came galloping down the hall. 

Cass set Damian down on the bed and pulled his shoes off, letting them hit the floor with a loud _thud_. She then tucked him in and let Titus jump up. He curled up on the other side the bed next to Damian. She didn't move after that, hovering for a minute, knowing he was awake.

"Cassandra?" He said sleepily, his eyes opening just a bit. 

"Hm?"

"Thank you. For tonight, I mean." He whispered.

She nodded and smiled. She ruffled his hair gently before bending down and kissing his forehead. "Any time. Goodnight, Damian."

"Goodnight." 

Cass disappeared into the hall and the door clicked shut. He took a deep breath and smiled, it seemed his sniffles were cured. 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading, feedback is greatly appreciated! leave kudos/comments or [msg me on tumblr](https://lesbianightstar.tumblr.com/)


End file.
